Upload
manoj-pasi
View
119
Download
2
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
s
Enabling EfficientAdministration at theDistrict Levelthrough ICTA Study of Lokvani project in Uttar Pradesh
2008
Rahul PathakTata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
7/1/2008
- 2 -
Dedicated to the people of Uttar Pradesh….
Of whom I am one….
A crab along with a swan and a pike, set out to drag a wagon along the road
It was not their load was difficult to move;
But the upward strained the swan, toward skies above,
The crab kept stepping back, the pike was for the pond.
And which was right or wrong, I neither know nor care:
I only know the wagon’s still there.
- Ivan Krylov
- 3 -
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
A study like this, which spreads over such a vast geographical area and at such a micro level, is
seldom a result of single person’s effort. Many persons have provided me with advice and support
as the study went through its peaks and troughs. This acknowledgement is a small gesture of
gratitude to them. Some helped me professionally with their time and sagacious advice and others
with a personal and emotional support during this period which saw lots of crests and troughs.
Firstly, I thank my guide Mr. Ashwani Kumar for supporting me during the course of study, I am
also thankful to Dr. R. N. Sharma, Dr. Bino Paul, Dr. Abdul Shaban, and Dr. Arwind Tiwari who have
provided essential inputs on various academic issues.
I am thankful to Government of Uttar Pradesh, National Informatics Centre, and District
Administrations of various districts. I am also thankful to various officials of the Government of
Uttar Pradesh in the secretariat, Yojana Bhavan and UPDESCO for their support. I thank the
technical directors at NIC, Mr. A.P. Singh, Mr. Anshu Rohatgi and Mr. Avneesh Gupta for providing
me with valuable insights into the various projects. I also thank Mr. Amod Kumar, Dr. Manoj Dixit,
Dr. A. K Singh, Dr. G. S. Baghel, Dr. Pratima Pathak, Dr. Ashutosh Mishra, Dr. Shashi Shukla, Mr. R B
Ram, Mr. Suneet Dwivedi and many more for their valuable insights.
Lastly, I thank the people who define my life….
My family of five angels…
My friends…
And many more….
- 4 -
PREFACE:
This project began as a part of my research related to the relations between State, Good
Governance, development and Information Technology. The enquiry was mainly targeted at the
understanding of the essential operational dynamics of everyday administration at the district
level and an analysis of role that could be played by introduction of information and
communication technologies. The district administration in a state like Uttar Pradesh, which is so
much politically active, is a complex process. Everything that happens at the district level is in one
way or the other linked to the political processes at the local, state and central level politics.
Lokvani project was chosen due to its unique approach and potential to truly make e-governance a
reality in an area supposed to be backward and aloof from the general technological progress.
Every project or endeavor at any levels comes with a set of inadequacies and criticisms, as a
perfect project is seldom implemented. When we tend to look into a project from critical
perspective we tend to overlook the vision behind the project. When I was working on this project
I realized that there is a lack of a comprehensive document which captures the spirit behind
Lokvani. Thus, it became essential to document the project in a comprehensive perspective.
Thus, I have approached this report from two perspectives. Firstly, an analysis of what are the
objectives or intentions behind the overall vision of the Lokvani project. The second part is a
simultaneous analysis of various issues operational on the field and a practical picture of the wide
differences that exist between the theoretical constructs and practical administration.
A large part of the report is directly taken from the official documents related to the projects,
which I failed to provide proper references. This should not be taken as a violation of copyrights.
Author is solely responsible for any discrepancy in the document.
July, 2008, RAHUL PATHAK
*The author could be contacted at [email protected] or Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai.
- 5 -
CONTENTS
Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………3
Preface……………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………….………………4
Contents……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...6
District Administration and Bureaucracy………………………….…………..……………………………………………8
Public Grievances……………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………13
State profile of Uttar Pradesh…………………………………………………………………………………………..………17
District Profile of Sitapur………………………………………………………………………………………...……………….20
The Method of data collection…………………………………………………………………………………………………22
The Lokvani………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 23
(a) The Genesis……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…24
(b) The Process……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…25
(c) The Services offered under Lokvani………………………………………………………………………………26
(d) The stakeholders in Lokvani………………………………………………………………………………………….27
(e) Infrastructure and Costs……………………………………………………………….………………………………30
(f) Implementation Plan…………………………………………………………………………………………………….33
(g) Some Screen Shots………………………………..………………………………………………………………………34
(h) The Advantages…………………………………..………………………………………………………….…………….39
(i) Challenges faced…………………………………………………………………………………………..……………….41
(j) Results Achieved…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….42
(k) Replication…………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….………45
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………...47
References………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………48
- 6 -
INTRODUCTION:
The development of the societies is often synonymous with the development of formal institutions
and organizations which govern the operational processes in the societies. In India, in the post
independence era we embarked on a journey of creation of numerous such institutions related to
almost every domain. The role of public organizations assumed importance not only in
governance and regulation but also in economic and social development. In the post liberalization
era, the private sector assumed significant importance but to a large extent they also depend on
the efficiency and effectiveness of public organizations, not to say of the poor masses whose
existence in a major way is dependent on the government and public systems. The district is the
most important single unit of administration in which the government comes into intimate contact
with the citizens. Thus, the district administration can play a major role in directing the socio-
economic changes. The district administration and bureaucracies have been severely criticized in
their method of operation and lack to commitment to the development of the masses. Emergence
of Information and Communication technologies and their integration with the process of
governance could be a solution and many parts of the world stand testimony to this fact. The
discourse around introduction of technology in governance has always been focusing on the need
for strong governance as the centre of operation of such projects; the technology is just a
facilitating tool in the macro-process. The idea is to improve the day to day operation of the
governance procedures and strengthening of the processes involving implementation. Various
electronic governance projects have been implemented throughout the world which has brought
dynamic changes in the way administrative systems interact and serve the masses. In India largely
such projects were restricted to the urban pockets of development in metropolitan cities
especially in the southern states. The rural belts have seen penetration of ICTs through certain
business remodeling concepts like e-choupal and Gyandoot but largely the interventions have
failed to make a larger impact on governance procedures as such. In a state like Uttar Pradesh
with a low socio-economic profile and complex administrative procedures it was difficult to
conceive and implement the e-governance project. National Informatics Centre the major
implementer of e-governance projects in Uttar-Pradesh has played a major role in these projects.
The NIC holds an opinion that the political institutions determine the success and failure of any
project and the people shift to use any user–friendly application if it suits there interests and
serves them, irrespective of their socio-economic profile. Also effective leadership can bring major
- 7 -
changes to the way administrative systems operate in the state machinery. The Lokvani project
somehow got favorable support on all these fronts. It was conceived as an online public grievance
redressal model with a two-pronged approach. Firstly, the improvement of the speed of the
process and generating accountability mechanisms and secondly, the virtual network of
administration up to the Nyaya Panchayat level, thus reducing the physical barriers of space and
time between the people and the administration, and also between the various echelons in the
administrative set up. The project was based on simple technology applications and was very user
friendly. The process was designed keeping local conditions in mind, thus the project got
momentum from the very beginning. Strong support from the media popularized the project. The
project was a brain-child of a particular administrator thus till the time he was in the district, the
project continued to grow. The electronic governance projects in India have failed to a very large
amount due relocation of the people who began them, since the processes are not institutionalized
in short tenures, the shifting of people creates a problem. Similar fate was faced by the Lokvani
project. Also, when it comes to replication among many factors internal issues within the Indian
bureaucracy takes a toll on the success of the replication plans. Thus, there are various factors
which could be analyzed when it comes to implementation. In this report I have tried to address
two issues in particular first is the study of district administration and secondly process of
Lokvani project, its advantages etc. Simultaneously, I have highlighted some of the inefficiencies of
the implementation phase and subsequent deterioration, which could form the basis of further
investigation in terms of an analysis of inadequacies of the district administrative systems & e-
governance projects at the implementation level.
It is necessary to understand the issues that operate within the Indian bureaucracy and how it
impacts the everyday social relations with the people whom they are expected to serve. What are
human capital issues and the reasons for the inefficient functioning of the bureaucracy? Some of
these issues I have tried to touch upon. Towards the end I have done a small analysis of the
implementation and replication issues in Lokvani at the state level and issues involved in the
same. The Lokvani project and similar projects of electronic governance are aimed at improving
the everyday state relations with the masses but it is to be strictly maintained that they are just
the tools; it is the willingness of the state machinery as a whole which would determine the overall
success or failures of such efforts. Thus, the need is to strengthen the state and its decision taking
structures and bringing innovation and accountability at the top which is subsequently bound to
be transmitted to all the levels of state machinery in due course of time.
- 8 -
DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION AND BUREAUCRACY:
District administration is one of the most important parts of the Indian administrative system and
has been one of the most powerful institutions. During the colonial regime, it was rigorously built
up to bring the totality of government closer to the people. It was hierarchical sub-system of the
state administration performing the specific tasks assigned to it. The head of civil administration
in a district is a collector who is also a district magistrate. She/he is a regional officer but she/he
represents the government in the district in practically all spheres of its activities. She/he is
assisted by a number of other bureaucrats in various departments. All the officers assist him in
different branches of administration such as land records, collection of revenues, policy
implementation etc. He is also the ex-officio district election officer. He is also responsible for
planning and development of the district plans and assists district planning committees in the
budgetary processes. The office of the collector is called the collectorate. The other major
functions of collector include maintenance of law and order, Inspection of Jails, supervise
cadastral survey and land records, revenue administration etc. Thus, the office of the collector is
burdened with a number of activities and enormous powers are vested in the collector. Thus,
individual competence of the District Magistrate is determined to play the most significant role in
the way administration operates in the district. District is further divided into tahsils for the
purposes of realization and collection of land revenue administration. Tahsils are the units of Sub
divisions, and sub divisional magistrate performs similar functions as that of district collector at
the tahsil level. He is assisted by a number of land revenue officials like Tahsildar, Naib-Tahsildar,
Kanoongo and lastly the lekhpal. Lekhpal is the last in the revenue chain and is a village level
functionary. Thus a complicated network of officials operates at a district level in a hierarchical set
up. Collector is solely responsible for every activity that happens in a district. He is expected to
tour the district for about 90 days and especially in each Tahsil during the rainy season, to look
into the condition of peasantry, settle disputes, and see to the implementation of development
schemes. Similarly, sub divisional magistrates are expected to travel for about 60 days. With the
growing needs of administration the capability expansion of the district collector is under
question. These responsibilities become practically impossible for the single person to administer.
It is also essential that the public administration should not be restricted to a top to down
approach serving the needs of the political leadership at the local, state and central levels. The
administration should be accountable to the public whom it serves. At present the administrators
- 9 -
and the representatives either share feelings of hostility towards each other and believe that the
failure of one is a result of failure of others or operate on a predefined line of nexus serving the
vested interests of the coterie thus formed. Collaboration and support between the administrator
and representative which at the same time is consistent with the welfare and development of
people is generally absent. Also, the understanding of their own tasks is very poor and both
depend to a large extent on the coterie of subordinates around them, which is a full army of yes-
men. In that case it needs a matured and rational administrator who can handle the responsibility
for the tasks assigned to him. When the overall administration is centered around one person and
the overall district administration tries to fulfill the vision of the collector, it is his vision that is
essential to define how the things move on in the districts.
On the other hand, In Independent India there has been a rush for the postings in the secretariat of
the state and the central governments. Successful field personnel and quickly rushed into
secretariat tasks. This tendency is further accentuated because of two other reasons; firstly the
experiment in decentralization has in fact resulted in higher measure of centralization. Secondly,
more talented people are required in decision making positions in the state administration and
more people are attracted to it for it offers power and prestige as well as facilities of a metro
dwelling space. This in the long run leads to weakening of the administrative systems at the
district level. As the competencies shift to the secretariats and ministries, the centre of
administration also shifts from the district to the ministries, thus weakening the most important
link in the administration where the real action takes place. Thus, there is a distinct need to make
collectorate positions more attractive and to have administrators with successful careers and
considerable experience posted in the field positions that would be strengthen the administrative
machinery. Apart from it one of the key issues is to revive the bureaucratic systems also so that
the good people are not caught up in stagnant systems. The dynamism of the young officers should
be harnessed upon; I encountered a number of good people who are caught up in bad systems.
Once, a distinguished administrator, at the end of a long and eventful career, gave expression to
his anguish over the fact that the administrators who started as very literate persons end up as
semi-literates. The pressure on the administrators has mounted enormously in recent years and
generally they don’t get a say at the policy-making level. An antipathy to study and research has
now been deeply ingrained in the administrative traditions. This may sound paradoxical but it is
true, the colonial system produced administrators some of whom could be considered super
literates, who pioneered research in many branches of knowledge, relating to people whom they
- 10 -
administered. Now, the system which is most affected by the transfers, (in Uttar Pradesh statistics
being abnormally high) leaves no space for the administrators to understand the people they
relate to. Also, expansion of the range, scope and complexity of the public services brought about
rapid urbanization, has led to unprecedented changes in the way we approach our administrative
set ups and vice versa. The district administrative set ups are not able to revive their work
patterns and have also had problems in responding to the tools provided till date. It could be
debated whether the human capital failures in terms of responding to the technology and other
tools is the personal failure of the administrative system or the local political will which is to
change as their local positions as the power centres could be diluted. The district administrative
systems work more on political will and a strong political bureaucracy has evolved at all the levels.
The private interest of this nexus supersedes the public good. It is not only these issues that are
impeding upon the bureaucratic structures, in order to understand the holistic picture; we need to
analyze the issues from socio-cultural perspectives embedded in the local systems. A critical
analysis of the values, behavioral aspects and attitudes of the Indian bureaucratic machinery and
the administrative system at the district level is necessary to understand the larger failures. The
mindset of the Indian administration has to be studied in the perspective of the bureaucracy
existing within a series of Chinese boxes. The immediate box is that of the bureaucratic ethos
which itself exists within the box of the governmental environment. This, however, is placed
within the larger box of the socio-economic-politico-cultural environment of India. Again, the
individual bureaucrat is himself enclosed within yet another box: the particular socio-economic
and cultural matrix of which he is a product and which exists at the core of his thinking and
feeling. The incredible complexity of these multiple layers of the bureaucrat’s make-up has to be
analyzed and understood if an effective intervention for change is to be made. In most government
organizations, there are no shortages of analytical reports or action plans. External agencies and
internal groups have often studied key aspects of the organizational functioning and come up with
recommendations for improvements. Training programmes and workshops have been conducted
to discuss important ideas. If ‘talk’ was an indicator of change, then the progress would be
considered remarkable. But a common lament is that very little of such prescriptions and
pronouncements get translated into practice. An examination of the different causes of this large
gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it would bring us to the issue of mindset and
culture and it is according to that we approach our administrative reforms. I hereby deal with the
- 11 -
various issues involved step by step to understand the whole process of requisite behavioral
changes.
In order to understand the overall process it is critical that we identify the mindsets which prevail
in the administrative systems and what are the employee’s perceptions. Some of the major key
issues I was able to identify were as follows:
(a) High degree of preoccupation with day to day routines, which in turn hampers strategic
thinking.
(b) Lack of foresight, thus just focusing on immediate requirements rather than on bigger
picture.
(c) An extra comfort level with status quo and seeped in resistance to change.
(d) Helplessness about constraints, thus shedding of responsibility as a consequence of
situations.
(e) Conformity prevails over commitment, excessive reliance on directive style of work.
(f) Performance exhibited not as a habit but as a response to emergency and crisis situations.
(g) Lack of anticipatory and participatory learning, appreciation, focus on priorities.
(h) Little mutual trust, respect, and friendship in teams.
(i) Lack of open, frank and free communication.
(j) Lack of effectiveness in managing mistakes
(k) A general unwillingness to take initiative.
(l) Lack of sensitivity to internal and external customer satisfaction.
These issues pertaining to the stagnancy in the mindsets further manifests itself in the form of
various day to day activities and problems of our Indian administrative system:
(1) Lack of professionalism and poor capacity building.
(2) Inefficient incentive system.
(3) Outmoded and restrictive rules and procedures.
(4) Systemic inconsistencies in promotion and empanelment.
(5) Lack of adequate transparency and accountability procedures.
(6) Arbitrary and whimsical transfers - insecurity in tenures impedes institutionalization.
(7) Political interference and administrative acquiescence.
(8) Gradual erosion in values and ethics.
- 12 -
In addition to the points raised above, there is also a need to realign our objectives and goals to
make some major shifts in our values some of which I would like to mention here:
(1) The administrative machinery and civil services have been observed to be committed to
the internal dynamics of organization rather than the public, this outward customer
approach to public administration is integral to achieve the desired levels of efficiency.
(2) The core values governing the behavioral aspects of the administrators should be integrity
and impartiality in the service delivery. An attitude of neutrality towards the ongoing
changes is one of the key reasons that the required changes are not able to seep in.
(3) The administrators should make a reversal of approach from that of follower to a creator to
introduce an innovation quotient in the organization concerned. The leaders should
emerge from within the organizations rather an appointing tendency.
The orientation should make a transition from that of status-quo preserving the traditional
redundant values and work-culture to that of a sophisticated orientation towards continuous
change as it approaches the new requirements. Major changes require substantial amount of
resources to be committed over a period of time. These are not just in terms of finances. A major
requirement would be in terms of leadership attention consistently over a period of time to make
changes happen. When the leadership is busy with routines and fire-fighting, their attention and
support would be either spread too thinly over several efforts, or would be missing altogether.
Every change requires a certain minimum level of time, energy and attention to succeed. If the
interventions are not of the right dosage, the efforts may create a ‘flash in the pan’, but no lasting
change. Also, change happens over a period of time. As it is a process, not an event, feelings of
ownership and involvement are critical for success. In other words, a limited commitment system
can manage an ‘event’ (like an emergency situation or a crisis), not a ‘process’ that unfolds over a
period of time and therefore, requires persistent and consistent set of actions over time. When we
do not invest sufficient efforts in building ownership, involvement and commitment of people at
operating levels, there is little hope that we would be able to elicit and major commitments of
time, energy and effort from them to make implementation successful. When the projects for
reinventing government like e-governance are introduced it is essential that they address all these
issues, because any project which forms a direct interface with the people in the administration
cannot exist in isolation to these issues. It is of paramount importance to address these issues in
consonance with the structural changes that are being brought about.
- 13 -
PUBLIC GREIVANCES:
During the past few years the citizen’s dissatisfaction with the administration has mounted up
significantly. The increase in public grievances is a result or rising expectations and education and
the administration is bound to cater to the requirements of the citizen. Also, the state today
provides far more services than in the past. While efficiency and discipline among public
employees have gone down the activities of the government, particularly the development tasks
have expanded in scope and scale and there has been no commensurate strengthening of the
administrative machinery. Adequate machinery for the redress of citizen’s grievances is essential
for several reasons. The inertia of the administrative machinery is not able to recognize the overall
objective of administration. They owe (if at all) allegiance to the prescribed rules and manuals or
to established processes, forgetting the very fact that administration exists not for itself but the
citizens. “…….Administration like most things is, in the final analysis a human problem – to deal
with human beings, not with some statistical data……there is a danger that pure administrators at
the top – not so much at the bottom – because they came into contact with human beings – may
come to regard human beings as mere expectations. The administrators may think in abstract of
the people he deals with, come to conclusions which are justifiable apparently but which miss the
human element. After all whatever department of government you deal with, it is ultimately a
problem of human beings, and the moment we forget them, we are driven away from reality.”1
Secondly, if the citizens’ grievances are allowed to mount up, their dissatisfaction with the
administration is likely to add to the existing social unrest and tensions. The phenomenon of
growing social discontent which erupts into sporadic acts of violence, strikes etc. finds sustenance
in citizens’ frustration with the administration. Corruption in the administrative units is also
linked closely to the inefficient institutions of public-grievance redressal. “….the problem of
maintaining integrity in administration cannot be viewed in isolation from the general
administrative processes. In order to deal effectively with the problem, it is necessary to take into
account the root cause of which the most important is the wide discretionary power which has to
be exercised by the executive in carrying on the complicated work of modern administration.”2
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
1. Jawaharlal Nehru, “Administration - A human problem” address delivered at the inaugural meeting of the Indian
Institute of public administration, New Delhi, 29 March 1954, The Indian journal of public administration, January-March,
1955, P.2
2. D.O. No. 1/4/63- CPC dated 22 February 1963 from K Santhanam. Chairman, Committee on prevention of corruption, to
Lal Bahadur Shastri, Home Minister, Government of India.
- 14 -
The citizen-administration relationship in a democratic polity will remain harmonious and cordial
only if both the parties are able to understand the feelings and the difficulties faced by each other.
However it has been observed that the administrators seem to view the people generally as
illiterate, ignorant, resourceless, incapable of initiative and action and unable to understand the
rules and the procedures as well as the requirements and possibilities of modern administration.
On the other hand the general feeling in the mind of the people is that they are concerned more
with the satisfaction of their own goals rather than the goals of a democratic welfare state. It is
also assumed that bureaucracy at the middle and the lower level levels is more inefficient and ill
equipped to respond effectively to the requirements and needs of the citizens3.
A common complaint against the administrators is that either they are not available or they are
reluctant to meet the public in general. In the most government offices as the common experience
goes, it is very difficult to meet the officers directly. Normally, the citizens have to go through a
series of hierarchical processes to get a redressal of one’s grievances from the officers. The offices
of the Lokayukta and some citizen grievance cells have also been marred by inefficient procedures
thus result in just a transfer of grievance from one set of officials to the other. Thus, the
administrative reforms should aim at addressing these issues. Although, we can get a series of
administrative reforms initiatives which target at these issues, when it comes to the
implementation of the same, it is really an issue to be addressed. The problem with our approach
to administrative reforms is that we see them as an event and a unit of problem rather than as a
process. Like, if the immense data which is generated in the form of Lokvani complaints is
analyzed in a proper manner, we can get hold of almost all the existing problems at the local level
which people face on the local level. A complaint should not be just treated as a complaint rather
as a tool to see a larger picture of the existing process which leads to that complaint. These set of
complaints could be even used for local level planning, identification of corrupt officials, regional
variations in the problems. It could be even used as an interface with the citizens to directly
interact with the larger processes rather than through a channel of panchayats, irrespective of the
local power relations. Modification and simplification of the rules, regulations and working
procedures, decentralization of power to the lower levels and adequate publicity of the changes in
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Bhatnagar &Jain, “ Administrative response to citizen grievances” in Bureaucracy, Politics and Administrative
Challenge, Pattnayak R. (Ed), 1994, Anmol, New Delhi
- 15 -
the rules and regulations is must. Efficient and proper trainings, reward mechanisms, frequent
meetings with the lower level officials and constant supervision, personal contact with the citizens
etc are some of the essential requirements for effective public grievance redressal which in some
way or the other is fulfilled by the Lokvani. The office of the Lokayukta which is responsible for
the monitoring and handling the public grievances should be entrusted with the monitoring of the
Lokvani complaints at the state level. Most of the respondents attributed the inadequacies to the
lack of state level monitoring of the complaints. A state level node should be responsible for
handling the complaints which have not been taken care of at the district level for a number of
times. The quality of disposal assumes the most important feature when it comes to public
grievances. The smart officials do away with their responsibilities in a very crude manner or they
create a way out to achieve their private interests, although the quality of disposal is the biggest
determining factor it is easy to resolve just by effective monitoring as the database is always
available on net and is accessible to everyone. The public grievance leads to frustration among the
masses, if not taken care of properly: The answer of some of the respondents give an insight into
the level of exploitation sometimes they have to undergo.
Respondent 1, who has been closely associated to the process and is an active member of the
project as a kiosk owner said in reply to the question about the attitude of officials that:
“The officials at the district level who directly deal with public behave as if they are even senior to
prime minister; they have forgotten completely that for what they are there. I have been challenged
by a senior official that he will not provide me any information under RTI, and does away with my
applications, just writing that the enquiry is into process.”
Respondent 2 retorted to the senior administration and status of Lokvani now as:
“The District Magistrate is not responsive to any complaints, it has been 13 times that I have done
Lokvani of the same complaint but to no use. Now the Lokvani which was once a wonderful tool
during the tenure of particular Magistrate has become a kind of show-piece, Now I can say only one
thing that Lokvani is dead now, only the death procession needs to be arranged for.”
Respondent 3 mentions:
“I called up a senior official from my tahsil and said that I have registered a Lokvani but no action
has been taken yet. He replied saying that I agree to your complaint but first come and meet me, we
will work it out, and you if you can get your work done only through Lokvani, then why are we here
for.”
- 16 -
Numerous such incidents I came across which were evidently showing the power of Lokvani but
unwillingness of the administration. The masses are eager to respond to innovative concepts and
alternative mechanism of communication with the state machinery. They generally resort to any
tool provided to them, until and unless their work is completed.
The state government came up with the concept of “Tahsil Diwas”, a trademark initiative of the
political party in power. In a Tahsil Diwas, the district administration conducts public meetings to
hear and respond to their complaints on a prescribed day. Any citizen can walk up to the Tahsil to
register his complaints to the concerned officials. The process is very much similar to what the
Lokvani was doing with far much greater efficiency in the district. The physical presence of the
citizens on the particular day during the working hours discourages the citizens from participating
in the process unless the issue concerns them in the major way. Lokvani, initiated a phase of
participatory governance and improved accountability standards in the system, this increased
accountability to the public was not taken positively by the bureaucratic machinery, accustomed
to a royal mode of functioning. The public grievances if addressed at an initial level in an efficient
manner and if any complaint is responded efficiently, in the regime of right to information the
citizen can ask more questions about the issues that concern them, but the bureaucratic
procedures make the participation and interfering in the governance processes so much tedious
that, most of the citizens refrain from the participation into the process. It is required that the
administrative procedures should be made transparent and accountability standards increased,
both these tasks were done by Lokvani in a very efficient manner. The online automation of
government offices and departments is only a capacity building to serve the large purposes of e-
governance, which in a major way also needs effective public grievance redressal in the way
everyday state responds to the common masses. Lokvani enables both horizontal and vertical
monitoring of the grievances, in this way it takes the fruits of information communication
technology to the masses, thereby strengthening the overall structure of governance at the
grassroots.
- 17 -
State Profile of Uttar Pradesh:
As per the population census 2001, Uttar Pradesh
with its 16.605 crore strong population, is the most
populous state in the country of 102.70 crore
population. It accounts for 16.17 per cent of the
India’s population of over one billion, fourth in
terms of density after West Bengal, Bihar and Kerala.
The population density for the state has increased
from 548 people per square kilometer in 1991 to
696 people per square kilometer in 2001. In terms of
population, Uttar Pradesh compares with the
seventh largest country in the world. Thus, the
economics of Uttar Pradesh and its development have a vital impact on the overall development of
India. An economically stronger Uttar Pradesh with its huge market could be an engine of growth
for the rest of the country.
In spite of this huge population the state suffers from poor physical and financial infrastructure.
Power consumption in the state is around 300 kWh per person, which is far less than the all India
average of 592 kWh. Among all the major states in India, Uttar Pradesh has the lowest percentage
of villages electrified and is second lowest in terms of per capita power consumption. In addition
the household access to power is just about 32 percent much below the national average of 84
percent. This constraint has a wide ranging implication for the industrialization of Uttar Pradesh.
Similarly the teledensity of (per 100 persons) of the state during 2000 was one of the lowest at
1.33 as against 2.85 at all-India level. Most of the states had teledensity in the range of 3.12 to
15.27.
There are several other concerns about education in Uttar Pradesh, which need to be addressed.
These include regional differences in the literacy rates and inadequacies in institutional
development. Uttar Pradesh has 20 middle and senior secondary schools and 59.54 primary
schools per 100,000 persons as against the national figures of 32 and 65 respectively. Data shows
that Uttar Pradesh is one of the worst developed states in middle and secondary education. Almost
80 percent of the population of Uttar Pradesh continues to live in rural areas. There has been a
shift of only one percentage point in the population from rural to urban in the state over last
- 18 -
decade (1991-2001). The pace of urbanization has been very slow in the state and the level has
been lower than most of the states. The state also finds a special mention in the IT deficiency, the
lack of networks and broadband availability etc. Uttar Pradesh’s performance with respect to the
various aspects of development lags considerably behind the all India average. Governance is the
most important issue, which needs to be examined due to its direct effects on improving the
investment policies and programmes.
Uttar Pradesh Development Report enumerates some key qualitative observations towards the
corruption in the state.
(a) Corruption is linked inversely to the salaries of the bureaucrats. The Incidence of
corruption is found to be higher among the higher level bureaucrats who deal with large
sums of money.
(b) Higher level bureaucrats have protection from being harassed and convicted by anti-
corruption authorities. Also, visibility of corruption in upper echelons is low because they
don’t deal directly with public.
(c) The incidence of corruption is also high because of a large demand of the services of these
officials as compared to the supply. Thus, the market price for these services is fairly high,
thus a preferential treatment is given to those customers who have higher purchasing
power.
In addition to these, there are several other parameters where the state falls short of even the
threshold. Most of the problems of Uttar Pradesh could be attributed to the governance failure
(especially during 1990s which also coincided with the liberalization). Thus, major chunk of
private sector led development bypassed the state. At the district level, the governance revolves
around the office of the collector thus the administration assumes a person-centered approach
rather than the institution centered approach. The vision of the collector to a large extent defines
the administration and governance in the district for the political clout is more interested in
maximizing their utility in connivance with the administration.
- 19 -
S. No. Factor Year
1. Population (crore) 2001 16.62
2. Geographical Area ( Lakh sq. Km) 2001 2.41
3. Population Density ( Per Sq. Km) 2001 689
4. % of total workers in agriculture 2001 66%
5. Village Connectivity (%) 31.3.02 51.1
6. Village Electrified ( Only by LT mains) 2002-2003 58.4%
7. Number of Districts 2008 71
8. Per capita net state domestic product 2002-2003 10,289 Rs
9. Literacy Rates 2001 56%
Source: Annual Plan GOUP 2004-05 Vol. I (Part 1) Page I and Statistical Diary 2003
The two well recognized causes of corruption in Uttar Pradesh are monopoly and discretion. The
monopoly functions of the state are often exercised through cumbersome rules, regulations and
procedures which render decision making sufficiently opaque and difficult, thus relegating an
extraordinary range of ordinary day to day functions to professional touts and the public officials
accustomed to dealing them. Governance reforms in Uttar Pradesh, therefore, aim at shedding
bureaucratic weight (reducing the size of bureaucracy by approximately 2% every year)
reviewing the rules and regulations with a view to drop unnecessary ones and simplify the
remainder. According to estimates in HDR 2003, 30 departments are administering 349 state and
central government acts. In addition there are 268 rules and 78 regulations/orders many of which
have been issued by various central acts.
Thus, the overall administrative procedure in the Uttar-Pradesh is a complex function. Also, highly
politicized bureaucracy impedes a citizen-centric mode of governance at the first place. The
bureaucrats owe allegiance to the political structures in place and with the change in the
structures the priorities of the bureaucrats also undergo change. The electronic governance
initiatives have given a mixed response in Uttar-Pradesh. The applications like Bhulekh which
concerns the online maintenance and delivery of Land Records are doing well at the user level.
Other applications like Prerna, Vahan, Koshvani, Scholarship, Karamchari, GIS for planning etc are
also doing well. The automation of offices is under the rolls and data integration and introduction
of advanced technologies like Business intelligence have brought a transition in the governance
procedures to a certain extent.
- 20 -
District Profile of Sitapur:
The City is situated on the river bank of ‘Sarayan’,
at Lucknow-Delhi National Highway No-24, 89 Km
from state capital Lucknow, and on meter gauge
railway line from Lucknow to Bareilly via
Lakhimpur and Pilibhit. Sitapur is also connected
on broad gauge train network connecting
Gorakhpur and Delhi via Gonda, Burhwal
bypassing Lucknow and Hardoi. Whole district is
divided into six tehsils - Sitapur, Biswan, Mishrikh,
Laharpur, Mahmoodabad and Sidhauli. There are 19 blocks, two parliamentary constituencies
Sitapur, Mishrikh and nine assembly constituencies (Behta, Biswan, Mahmoodabad, Sidhauli,
Laharpur, Sitapur, Hargaon, Mishrikh and Machhrehta. Total population of the district is 28.57
Lacks and the area is 5743 Sq. km. there are 2348 Census Villages and 1329 Gram Panchayats in
the district. The District enjoys a strong computer penetration and connectivity up to the nyaya
panchayat level. The administrative wings at the district headquarter campuses are connected
through optical fiber cable. All the six tehsils have approximately 6-7 computers on an average
with full time internet connectivity. All the 19 blocks have computer with internet access. The 25
police stations of the district have a fully operational connectivity to internet and 21 of them have
CIPA applications. (Common Integrated Police Applications). All the administrative offices have
trained technical manpower. The district has more than 300 cyber cafes and more than 100
Lokvani centers. National Informatics Centre, District Unit assisted by a team led by technical
director provides the required technical support to all the concerned departments as per
requirements. Overall, the district is one of the most IT ready districts of Uttar-Pradesh. One of the
most important factors which give an edge to the district is the trust and acceptability of
information systems by the public. The district is one of the districts selected for the e-district
project of the central government under National e-governance plan. (NeGP). Certainly, it won’t be
wrong to say that Sitapur is one of the most advanced districts in the state when it comes to the
penetration of ICT into the rural areas, and also in terms of the citizen awareness about the
Information technology. The three years of Lokvani intervention has made a larger impact on the
ICT infrastructure of the district. Thereby, confirming that mere facilitation of services by the state
can make a great impact in terms of penetration of technology in rural areas.
- 21 -
DISTRICT STATISTICS:
POPULATION:
1991Total Population SC Population
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Rural 13,74,119 11,39,222 25,13,341 4,82,651 4,02,784 8,85,435
Urban 1,84,786 1,58,882 3,43,668 19,497 15,483 34,980
Total 15,58,905 12,98,104 28,57,009 5,02,148 4,18,267 9,20,415
2001Total Population SC Population
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Rural 17,14,279 14,72,694 31,86,973 5,97,270 5,14,685 11,11,955
Urban 2,27,095 2,05,593 4,32,688 22,231 19,440 41,671
Total 19,41,374 16,78,287 36,19,661 6,19,501 5,34,125 11,53,626
LITERACY:
Literacy in Census -1991
Total Population Literates
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Rural 13,74,119 11,39,222 25,13,341 4,51,799 1,14,608 5,66,407
Urban 1,84,786 1,58,882 3,43,668 97,950 59,093 1,57,043
Total 15,58,905 12,98,104 28,57,009 5,49,749 1,73,701 7,23,450
Literacy in Census -2001
Total Population Literates
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Rural 17,14,279 14,72,694 31,86,973 8,04,072 3,58,969 11,63,041
Urban 2,27,095 2,05,593 4,32,688 1,39,150 1,02,252 2,41,402
Total 19,41,374 16,78,287 36,19,661 9,43,222 4,61,221 14,04,443
TEHSIL WISE POPULATION:
Tehsil NameCensus- 1991 Census- 2001
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Sitapur 2,18,547 1,82,423 4,00,970 3,83,326 3,37,378 7,20,704
Misrikh 3,62,043 2,96,664 6,58,707 4,13,549 3,50,753 7,64,302
Laharpur 2,25,760 1,89,197 4,14,957 3,22,311 2,80,469 6,02,780
Biswan 2,29,381 1,90,230 4,19,611 3,18,747 2,76,079 5,94,826
Sidhauli 1,60,957 1,35,923 2,96,880 2,50,526 2,17,314 4,67,840
Mahmoodabad 1,77,431 1,44,785 3,22,216 2,52,915 2,16,294 4,69,209
Total 13,74,119 11,39,222 25,13,341 19,41,374 16,78,287 36,19,661
- 22 -
METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION:
The data for the study was collected during the summer project period. The research instruments
evolved over a period of time after and initial observation period in which an attempt was made to
understand the various processes operating in the process of governance from the secretariat
levels to the village levels. The field visits up to the tahsil and village levels gave insights into the
village level administration. Also, an attempt was made to identify archival and other sources of
data. It became apparent in due course of time that archival data, particularly with reference to
reports, government orders, minute proceedings was difficult to locate and in case located officials
were not willing to share it. Also, the official documents which I was able to get hold were so much
comprehensive and detailed but in the slightest manner did not reflect the dynamics of what was
on the play on ground. Thus long unstructured interviews and discussions was the only source of
insight into the processes that are operational in reality. I also tried to participate in certain
meetings of the district officials to gain an insight of how the things functioned, as the otherwise
available reports were very tersely worded, indicating the agenda and result only, rather than the
intermediate dynamics. Internal records of the government are also a treasure for the officials
which still are difficult to get in. For example, I needed financial details of a major pilot project of
integrated citizen services in Lucknow, the state coordinator after nearly 20 calls and four visits
declared that he was not authorized to give the information, thus I had to decide for doing without
the data. It is difficult to locate the manuals which govern the processes; in large number of cases
they do not exist at all. Every information sharing required a formal permission of the study,
which when I got from the institute was asked by many to be approved by the government which I
was not able to. Information technology departments is in charge of the e-governance projects
which on regular basis are circulated among the departments, but the officials in other
departments very rarely open to these circulars. The engineering departments and technology
related departments are something out of place when it comes to district administration. The
district administration revolves around the departments related to law and order, board of
revenues, and development officers, primary education etc. Thus not a surprise that relationships
between the these functionaries at district level say and District administration is never written
about in contrast to a plethora of literature on relationships between district magistrates and
police. Thus it was most fruitful approach to obtain the various perceptions of various members
in these organizations. This was important for perceptions are also embedded in the attitudes.
- 23 -
THE LOKVANI:
Lokvani is a Hindi word which means “The Voice of
people”. It’s is a single window Governance system
for providing transparent, accountable and
responsive government administration for
grievance handling, land record maintenance and
job opportunity creation, thus giving security and
opportunity for accelerated development. Lokvani
is a public- private partnership project started in
the district of Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh, India. After
the success in Sitapur the project was replicated in all the 70 districts of Uttar-Pradesh. It is a
kiosk based self-sustainable e-governance solution for providing transparent, accountable and
responsive administration for grievance handling, land record management and an eclectic
mixture of essential Services. The model has been showcased as one of the most successful,
popular and influential e-governance solutions. Lokvani is a public private partnership program,
which gives citizens an opportunity to interact with the government without coming to any
government office. It is an example of a highly cost-efficient, economically self-reliant and user
financed community network. This solution is targeted at 3.6 million citizens residing within the
district, located in the province of Uttar Pradesh. The system is grounded in the rule of law,
encompassing the rights of people underpinned by accountable and efficient public administration
for multiphase development of rural people. The primary objective of the IT solution is to bridge
the digital Divide and “connect” the common man to the strategy maker’s in a seamless fashion.
The Lokvani project was initiated on lines of a citizen friendly approach to the electronic
governance systems. The success of the programme over the period of three years and its
subsequent downfall over the successive period gives us unique inside into the issues that lead to
success and failures of the project. First of all, I will discuss the business model of Lokvani and its
approach towards enabling efficient administration, the role of various stakeholders, and various
related features, and subsequently move on to the fluctuations and decline of the project to
understand the issues involved in the same. The attempt is not at all aimed at any personal
references to the people who have led to the success or failures but as to the administrative
system under study as a whole rather than any person failure or success.
- 24 -
GENESIS:
Lokvani was a response of the committed district
administration towards providing a unique
approach to the age old trauma of bureaucratic
hassles which impact the life of the ordinary citizen
in a large way. With the aim to reach out to the
people and give them a platform to voice their
concerns and complaints the district administration
of Sitapur, initiated the innovative system of
grievance redress through Information and
Communication Technology. It was visualized as a
two way exchange of information of government programs and documents to the people and of
people’s complaints and feedback to the Government. A study was commissioned of similar
initiatives in the Districts of Jhalawar (Rajasthan) and Dhar (Madhya Pradesh). The study revealed
the strengths and weaknesses of these efforts. Lokvani was accordingly designed to improve upon
them and came up with an online resolution and redressal of all the public grievances, a first of its
kind in India. A society by the name Lokvani was registered under Act 21, society Registration Act
1860 in Uttar Pradesh to implement the project autonomously and so as to reduce the
bureaucratic hassles. The National Informatics Centre (NIC) provided the necessary technical
know-how of the project. The format of the program was designed to suit the local demographic
profile. 88% of Sitapur population resides in the villages and only 38% of the people are literate.
This called for a simple, user friendly program which was within easy reach of the people both
geographically as well as socially. National Informatics Centre developed a transparent, efficient
and corruption-resistant program. It was decided that instead of opening new kiosks, existing
cyber cafes, computer training institutes should be granted licenses to become Lokvani Centres.
This decision was taken to ensure the financial viability and the long-term sustainability of the
kiosks. It brought about a paradigm shift in the fundamentals of governance and government-
public relations in Sitapur. It also created job opportunities for the educated unemployed youth of
Sitapur. Today there are about 110 geographically uniformly distributed kiosk centres at block
and tehsils level at Sitapur, which have filed more than one lakh nineteen thousand public
grievances till date.
- 25 -
THE PROCESS:
The complaint once registered into the Lokvani website
is immediately transmitted to the collector’s office where
it is marked to specific officers with fixed time limits for
disposal of the complaint. This is updated on the website
and the complainant can see this on computer for follow
up. The concerned officer’s collect the complaints related
to them or their offices daily from either the district
headquarters or from any Lokvani Kendra. If they have computers in their offices, they can access
the complaints directly. Thus within 24 hours of registration, the complaint reaches the level at
which it has to be addressed. The office or officer concerned, reports back to the collector within
the fixed time about the action taken on the matter. If for any unavoidable reason, the disposal is
not completed within the time frame, the officer may ask for additional time, which may be
granted by the Collector. This is immediately entered into the program for information of the
complainant. After the complaint has been redressed, entry is again made in the program. All
complaints are sorted and arranged in terms of offices, officers, types of complaint, date of
registration etc. This helps in effective monitoring and accountability. The DM can use these
monitoring tools to pinpoint responsibility for delays and take action accordingly against erring
officials. The facility is frequently used by district Magistrate in weekly meeting of Lokvani. The
software can generate any report needed by executive officer at any given time. No scope of hiding
facts. A complete list of all the complaints received at Lokvani Sitapur is also readily accessible.
These reports give an idea about the total pending complaints as well. Further more these reports
can be viewed by any citizen at Lokvani. The complainant may know exactly who is holding back
his or her matter. This enables public to get a reliable feedback about the process and in turn
enables the citizens to follow-up their case in case they need a more rapid solution. Similar lists of
all complaints on which action had been taken and report is generated by the officers are
accessible to their superior officers as well. The Lokvani Centre enters the complaint on behalf of
the complainant. The user need not be literate or computer expert to lodge his or her grievance. A
copy of the complaint is given to the complainant and the database keeps tracks of all the
complaints filed by a particular Lokvani Centre.
- 26 -
THE SERVICES UNDER LOKVANI:
The Lokvani platform provided a number of services. The services were constantly upgraded as
per the requirements and innovations. Broadly in the initial phases the services being offered
through the Lokvani Centres fall under the following categories:
(1) Details pertaining to land records through the Bhulekh portal.
(2) Different development schemes, scholarship details, pension details etc.
(3) Status of complaints, action taken reports and related services.
(4) The online lodging of complaints and dissemination of status of complaint.
(5) Downloading of government prescribed forms etc.
(6) Driving Licence application.
(7) Availability of land records (Khataunis) on internet.
(8) Online registration, disposal and monitoring of public grievances.
(9) Information of various governments schemes/prescribed Government forms.
(10) List of different development works/Schemes/Expenditure/Beneficiaries etc.
(11) GPF Account details of basic education teachers.
(12) Details of work done under MPLAD / MLALAD.
(13) Allotment of funds to Gram Sabha’s under different development schemes.
(14) Allotment of food grains to kotedars (fair price shops).
(15) Other useful information of public interest.
(16) Online tender submission/monitoring.
(17) Birth/Death/Caste/Income/Domicile Certificates.
(18) Online Results of exams/competitions/Appointment etc.
(19) Details of financial expenditure on Developmental work.
(20) Student scholarships details under various categories.
(21) Pension related information for widow, old age, physically handicapped, minority etc.
(22) District voters list.
(23) Directory of District Officials
(24) Online applications for loans under various schemes run by Government.
(25) Market Rates of vegetables and other items, collected on daily basis from nearby Market.
(26) Notice Board featuring important Notification and events by the District Administration.
(27) Information about Local Employment Opportunities in the district.
- 27 -
STAKEHOLDERS IN LOKVANI:
National Informatics Centre:
National Informatics Centre has its giant network all over the country. It has its District office in
every District head quarter headed by District Informatics Officer. NIC has centralized data server
in Delhi. Every district unit is connected to Delhi through SCPC PAMA VSAT. Every District has
User ID and Password for accessing the space allocated in server to them. Software Development
cost of this project was zero as NIC is already working in every district on government
expenditure. There are only two employees from NIC in district, namely District Informatics
Officer and Scientific Officer. Eight people are appointed on daily wages basis and have given ID
and password for handling work of Lokvani. These workers do the feeding of the action taken
report, target date and DM remarks on Lokvani System for these officers. All the district offices
work under the state unit headed by State Informatics Officer (SIO). Similarly state units are
headed by central unit in Delhi. District can ask for help to state office or country head office for
technical assistance. Help can be in area of new technology or in application development.
District Administration:
District magistrate is the administrative and functional head of the Lokvani system. The
administration and Implementation of any e-governance system is more a strategic issue then
technical. Resistance from administrative officers is extremely high due to change in the
established working system. Lokvani System has been rolled out on a top-down basis and hence it
is a challenge to get sustainable acceptance from officers. However, Lokvani has significantly
increased accountability of officers and transparency in district administration. The success of the
system in Sitapur is widely believed to be due to the focused approach of the District Magistrate.
The then District Magistrate in Sitapur implemented various processes to ensure the success of
the system. One of the key processes was to have a meeting with the relevant officers every
Tuesday, to check the total number of complaints arrived and disposed by each officer. The
process does away with the need to send formal notices to the officers and this eliminates the alibi
of not receiving the notices on time. Specifically, those officers who have their name in the
defaulter list are invited to the meeting. Each officer has assigned unique ID and password for
accessing the Lokvani system.
- 28 -
The Lokvani Society:
Lokvani society’s role is pivotal in the entire process & operation. The Lokvani society was
registered under Act 21, Society Registration Act 1860 in Uttar Pradesh. This step was taken to
implement the project autonomously and to reduce the bureaucratic hassles. All the financial
work of Lokvani is governed through this society. Monetary financial power of president is limited
to INR 2, 00,000 and of secretary is limited to 50,000 only. Lokvani society meets its recurring
costs from the amount received from registration of kiosks, lifetime and short term Lokvani
membership fee and MPLAD / MLALAD funds Etc. Initial set up cost for Lokvani was also very
negligible as all the hardware software support was provided by NIC free of cost. The Lokvani
society raised a huge amount by the selling of Lokvani software to the seventy districts of Uttar
Pradesh at a cost of 75, 000 each. That amount has been used by the extension of the Lokvani
kiosks up to the gram panchayat level discussed later.
The management committee of this society have following key members:
(1) District Magistrate: President
(2) Chief Development Officer: Secretary
(3) ADM: Vice President
(4) Senior Treasury Officer: Financial President
(5) City Magistrate: Member
(6) SDM, Sitapur: Member
(7) Planning Director: Member
(8) District Manager Telecommunication: Member
(9) District Informatics Officer: Member
Role and Responsibilities of the society:
(1) Management and Operations of the Lokvani hub.
(2) Up-gradation of infrastructure, hardware.
(3) Software and networking.
(4) Registration of private players for Lokvani Centres.
(5) Collection of the registration charges from the Centre operators.
(6) Revenue sharing model for service charges with the private parties.
- 29 -
It has also been observed that people do not mind paying for services, as long as they are assured
of action on their grievances and complaints and they get required information at their doorsteps,
which also saves them a lot of time and money wasted in visiting the various government offices
time and again for even a small work. Thus the society was also made responsible for the
conceptualising and then monitoring the financial transactions in the project. Now the Lokvani
societies formed in every district of Uttar-Pradesh is the key agency implementing various e-
governance projects. The Lokvani society is an organisational innovation which performs within
the confines of state machinery and in the meantime is also independent of the same. It also has a
group of consultants like District Information Officer from NIC. Thus, giving it a more holistic
perspective, but a large part of the Lokvani societies is dominated by the district administration
officials, the membership of Lokvani society should be expanded to include some more members
chosen by a consensus, which could extend the participation of the people. Probably
representatives from media, academics and Judiciary can increase the accountability of the
Lokvani society to a large extent.
KIOSK OPERATORS:
This model of Lokvani worked out quite efficiently up to the Tehsil, Block and Town level as there
was very negligible set up cost involved. To further spread the growth of Lokvani network to the
village level, some initial investment in hardware was involved which Government shared.
Recurring expenditures were met from the income generated from various services provided to
people from the Kiosk. Key issue is to add sufficient Information/Services to Lokvani in order to
make the kiosk viable. Additionally kiosks can also generate some revenue by providing other
private services through their kiosks like computer education, DTP work, digital photography,
cyber cafe etc. The kiosk operators were authorized to register the complaints and were
responsible for the feeding of the compliant into the Lokvani server. The local term which is in
vogue now is “to do a Lokvani”. The complaint is now referred with the name of Lokvani rather
than application. The Lokvani kiosk owners are also responsible for tracking the status of Lokvani
for and subsequently inform the citizen about its status. He is also permitted to provide various
other services through his shop to make the venture profitable. The Lokvani licences are issued
once a year, and after the completion of one year they have to renew the license on payment of a
fee of rupees one thousand to the Lokvani Society. Thus, the Lokvani kiosk owners act as a
important link at the delivery point of the Lokvani complaint.
- 30 -
INFRASTRUCTURE AND COSTS:
First of all, computer kiosks are either set up in every panchayat or the existing cyber cafes
computer training centres are co-opted into the system. These are designated as ‘Lokvani
Kendras’ and are equipped with computers, Printers, UPS and generators if required. These
centres are registered with the District Administration for a fee. From these Kendra’s any citizen
can file a complaint on payment of a nominal Charge of Rs 10 for every complaint. The Kendra
assists the people in accessing the Lokvani site and typing his complaint. Later on, it also helps the
complainant in tracking his complaint and in following it up. A fee of Rs 5 is charged for follow ups.
The Kendra is trained in the use of Lokvani software by NIC. While the Lokvani can be accessed
from anywhere, it is necessary to log on from a kiosk to register a complaint. There are two kinds
of costs involved in the project the capital cost and recurring expenditure. The Government just
needs to make the capital investment, while the recurring expenditure will be met by the
registration and service charges collected. Since the backbone of the project is Internet and the
density of Lokvani Centres plays an important role. The private participation not only reduced the
burden on the State Government, but also facilitated faster expansion of the project. The
management, operations, expansion & technical up-gradation of the project & Lokvani Hub will be
done by the Lokvani society, which will collect funds through registration and revenue sharing for
the services being provided through Lokvani Centre. Lokvani is hosted on internet using SQL
Server as back end database and ASP is used for writing application. Any client connected to
Internet can access Lokvani using browser if he has proper authorization. Lokvani is a service
delivery project and utilizes the service oriented architecture like single windows access to
multiple services, use of local language, quality of service, improvement in speed of delivery, the
ease of use etc. The communication software used in the project has been developed by NIC in
Hindi. Lokvani project requirement can be categorized into three parts:
(1) Infrastructure for stetting up Lokvani hub and Information kiosk, which will be provided
by the District Administration.
(2) Local Area Networking (LAN) connecting the Lokvani HUB, NIC District Centre and the
Sections of the collectorate that are offering Services through Lokvani Project.
(3) Computer Hardware & Software, that is necessary for the Lokvani Hub and different
sections of the collectorate.
- 31 -
Hardware & software components:
Computer hardware, software & LAN require specific components which are mentioned below:
(a) Server (Intel Pentium Xeon based)
(b) Information Kiosk
(c) Clients(Intel Pentium IV Based)
(d) Printers Laser.
(e) Printers DMP
(f) UPS for Server & Networking
(g) Components (Online)
(h) UPS for Clients
(i) Software (System Software & Databases)
(j) Networking (Active & Passive Components for LAN)
(k) Touch Screen Kiosks
(l) 11 IVRS Card / Software
Project hardware set-up Cost for Lokvani Centre:
(a) Computer: 5 * 40,000 = 2, 00,000(b) Printer: 2 * 25,000 = 50,000(c) Hardware Online UPS: 1 * 1, 00,000= 1, 00,000(d) Lokvani Software: 75, 000(e) Other software applications: 25,000(f) Networking Hub and LAN Cabling: 20,000(g) Civil Work: 30,000(h) Electrical work: 20,000(i) Air Conditioner: 30,000
Other Costs:
(1) Operators Salary: 5 * 2,000 = 10,000(2) Administrator Salary: 1 * 8,000 = 8,000(3) Peon salary: 2 * 1,000 = 2,000(4) Stationery for printing: 1,500(5) Printer toner refilling: 5,000(6) Other stationery: 2,000
Recurring monthly income:
(a) Grievances 100*240=24,000(b) Arms 300 * 40=12,000
(c) Land Records 300 * 40=12,000
(d) Tenders 200 * 40=8,000
(e) Certificates 120 * 40=4,800
(f) Miscellaneous 200 * 40=8,000
- 32 -
Estimated Income of Lokvani centre:
(a) Government grants: 15, 00, 000
(b) MP/MLA / Contingencies: 10, 00, 000
(c) Kiosk Agreements: (100X1000): 100,000
Cost for setting up new kiosk at Village Panchayat level with one time investment:
(1) Computer- Rs 30, 000(2) Printer - Rs 10, 000(3) UPS Rs- 5, 000(4) Generator - Rs. 25, 000(5) Solar power support cost - variable(6) VSAT Cost - variable
Recurring (per month) on a Kiosk
(1) Rent off shop : 500(2) Electricity/water/maintenance expenditure: 1000(3) Internet expenses: 500(4) Stationary & other consumable items: 500
Monthly Estimated Income of Kiosks from Lokvani Services:
(1) Grievance redressal: 300*10 = 3000(2) Arms Licences: 300*5 = 1, 500(3) Land Records: 150*10 = 1, 500(4) Tenders: 50* 20 = 1, 000(5) Certificates: 60*10 = 600(6) Miscellaneous: 2, 000
Total 9, 600
Income from Other Service
(a) Digital photography: 1,000(b) Net Surfing: 1,000(c) Computer typing: 1,000
Total 3,000
Monthly Net Income of Kiosks:
= 9600 +3000= 12, 600 INR
Monthly Saving of Kiosks
Saving = Net income-Recurring Expenditure
= 12, 600-2500= 10, 100 INR
- 33 -
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
The project evolved over time and gradually more services and activities were added from time-
to-time. The project was thus implemented in a phased manner over a period of three years, to
encompass the maximum features and services that can be offered to the people for smooth
functioning of the project the roles and responsibilities of the agencies involved and the structure
of committees for monitoring the project have been defined below:
National Informatics Centre:
(a) Application Software development for Lokvani Website, Information Kiosk.
(b) Different sections of the collectorate offering services through the Lokvani Centre.
(c) Design & Establishment LAN within tithe collectorate
(d) Implementation support for tithe project at the District.
(e) Finalization of hardware and software specifications
District Administration
(1) Provision of infrastructure for stetting up of Lokvani Hubs
(2) Procurement of hardware, system software.
(3) Hiring of operational manpower for the Project.
(4) Coordination between different
(5) Departments for provision of services at the Collectorate.
Lokvani Society
(1) Management & Operations of the Lokvani HUB.
(2) Gradation of infrastructure, hardware, software & networking, if required
(3) Registration of Private Parties for Lokvani Centres.
(4) Communication between various stake-holders.
(5) Maintenance of various official documents.
(6) Collection of revenues and maintenance of accounts.
(7) Coordinate with the teams of other districts to help in the implementation.
(8) To act as a district level consultant to various e-governance projects.
(9) To organise various other meets, awards ceremonies, dignitary visits etc.
- 34 -
SCREENSHOTS:
(1) The Lokvani Homepage:
The Lokvani homepage could be accessed through the link www.sitapur.nic.in/Lokvani for the
Sitapur district. This homepage is hosted on the NIC website of the districts and an icon is
provided on the homepage of the district website to access the Lokvani. The security verification is
required to log onto the website. The kiosk owners and the officers are provided with a user id
and password to log on the website. For the demonstration purposes we can use “Guest” as User
ID and Password. The defaulters list and other various details of ongoing projects of Lokvani
Society are provided on the Homepage. The Login to the website takes us the the welcome menu
as shown in the next screenshot.
- 35 -
(2) Welcome Menu:
Any citizen who files the complaint through the kiosk centres by using Kiosk ID and Password
(generally both ID & Password remain the same for the sake of simplicity of the Operations) after
Logging in, the Complainant gets the menu, whose screenshot is given above. This menu contains
the following hyperlinks, Lokvani Grievance services
(1) The complaint menu.
(2) Tender services
(3) Arms License Services
(4) Land records
(5) Employment services
(6) Information about Schemes/forms
(7) List of different works
(8) Single window service centre.
(9) Return to main menu.
- 36 -
The Grievance Menu:
It has another set of details. The menu is given as a virtual screenshot. Here each row represents a
different hyperlinked section.
It has the following sections:
(a) Filing complaint
(b) Status of the complaint
(c) Officer Wise summary of all complaints
(d) Summary of all complaint
(e) Centre wise send complaints
(f) Date wise Received complaints
(g) Date wise marked complaints
(h) Date wise modified complaints
(i) Date wise disposed complaint
(j) Date wise received disposed reports
(k) List of pending complaints.
(l) Complaints which have been filed more than once.
- 37 -
Grievance Registration:
After logging in the complainant may file his or her complaint either with the help of the Kiosk’s
assistant. The grievance registration format is very simple and clear. The complainant may take a
final print out of the report filed for safe keeping, otherwise it’s not required because this process
is unstoppable, unchangeable and unalterable at any level. The data once entered can’t be
manipulated by any one. The complainant now proceeds to click on ‘register complaint’ for
registering his Complaint. Briefly the whole process takes the Following course: Individual’s file
grievance through kiosk centres and kiosk owner reregisters the complaint online and provides
tithe complainant with a unique complaint number. The complaint gets stored at the NIC
headquarters’ SQL server at Delhi (Unmarked complaint). The Personal Assistant of the District
Manager (DM) sorts the complaints according to the officers and their departments. The DM
forwards the complaints with annotations such as the required action and its dead line (Marked
complaint). This information is then submitted online and hard copies are marked off to the
concerned officials and his department (Pending complaint). The officer solves the complaint,
submits a report to the DM and then finally files a report on the action taken using his unique ID
and password (Disposed complaint). The petitioner can view the status of the complaint and the
official action using the complaint number.
- 38 -
The monitoring reports:
- 39 -
ADVANTAGES:
Time saver procedures:
The main advantage of the program lies in the fact that it completely does away with the need of
villagers or the citizens to run from Pillar to post to either access information or to lodge a simple
complaint. As more than 80% of the population lies in the villages and most of them are very poor,
it is an extremely convenient method of problem solving for them. The Lokvani kiosks are spread
across all the tehsils and blocks of the district. It is very convenient and comfortable for the
common man to lodge his complaint and get other services from his own local area. His
transaction costs and time have been reduced considerably. There is absolutely no need to kill
time in to and fro communication to contact the district administration.
Time bound Redressal:
If a person lodges a complaint through this system, he can be assured of getting response on a
fixed time since the system works on a continuos monitoring basis thus the system is efficient and
reliable if administrative trade offs are not accounted for. The fact that today nearly 200
complaints are reaching the Collector’s office not only shows the increasing popularity of the
program but also bears testimony to the fact that as many people have been saved from
unnecessary trouble of travelling to the district headquarters, spending their hard earned incomes
and wasting their productive time for solution of their simple grievances. Since every one is free to
tell his Opinion and circulating the information around him, he is basically helping the
administration to eradicate the social evils also.
Enhancements:
Integrated Voice Response System and Short Message Service have been added to Lokvani.
Officers and Complainant will be able to check Complaint status on mobile phone. System has
different options for officer and complainant. Citizens will be able to check status of Complaint,
name of officer to whom the complaint is assigned, instruction by District Magistrate, deadline
date given to the officer for solving the complaint on phone. Similarly officers will be able to check
number of complaints pending to him. Officer can drill down any complaint for details. On the
other hand, the district offices have become decongested though the quality and pace of redress all
of grievances have improved. Monitoring has become more focused and effective, accountability
- 40 -
better defined. Paper work has been reduced leading to better office upkeep. It provides the top
management group in district administration an insight into the delivery system of all
departments related to public service and analyse the types of problems that people generally
face. Lokvani has been an excellent experiment in reengineering of governance and service
delivery at the district level. Within Government it has reduced discretion and delays and hence
has contributed to a significant reduction in corruption and subjectivity. The entire government
system has been thrown open to public viewing and hence introduced an unprecedented
transparency in Governance.
Direct connectivity with masses:
Generally officers remain isolated with General people. After getting connectivity through Lokvani
they got the direct connection with the masses. They can easily understand the problems of the
common people and ground realities. It has lead to a more systematic approach in solving the
problems of people and a direct connection with the masses. The senior officers having service
length of 20 years plus hesitated initially to learn how to operate a computer, but gradually they
got convinced by the advantages of working on computer. They developed interest and at present
all officers are computer knowing officers and they are multiplying the number of Computer
aware people. The use of computer in Government departments is increasing day by day and
officers themselves are promoting the use. They can easily understand the problems of common
people and ground realities.
Newer opportunities:
Lokvani has registered private kiosk centres and given them an opportunity for self employment
and with a very little investment, the kiosk owners are getting handsome returns. The Kiosk
owners can generate more income by stetting up other facilities like photocopier, PCO, Fax, Digital
Photography etc along with ‘Lokvani’ services. Various modes of income is available through
‘Lokvani’ like complaint lodging, printing, viewing the various employment schemes, job
vacancies, tender publishing and forms etc. The NIC has gained by its authorship of this unique
program and its sustained association with it through trainings, etc. Lokvani has exhibited that
with a minimal cost the entire system of governance can be brought within the easy reach of the
people. It has created computer awareness and scientific temper in the rural populace as well as
government machinery, which has experienced an innovative exposure to modern technology.
- 41 -
CHALLENGES FACED:
Conceiving a project like Lokvani is not easy, but the implementing was even more difficult due to
the resistance offered by the old public grievance redresses system. With the passage of time it
was realized that the implementation of Lokvani governance System is more of a strategic issue
then technical. During the various phases latter the administration encountered the following
challenges:
(1) Resistance from administrative officers is extremely high due to change in working System.
Lokvani system has been rolled out on a top-down basis and hence it is a challenge to get
sustainable acceptance from officers. However, Lokvani has significantly increased
accountability of officers and transparency in district administration.
(2) The success of the system in Sitapur was widely believed to be due to the focused approach
of the District Magistrate. Officers think that their all effort for learning the system will of
no use when DM will get transferred. The next DM will have different priority therefore he
will not give required weightage to Lokvani and e-Governance system.
(3) Every officer doesn’t have computer systems as well as willingness to use them. System is
not fully automated. Still some paper work is mandatory at all levels; this was the major
challenge to the implementing machinery.
(a) Hierarchal and time taking process of getting birth, death, domicile, caste, and Income
certificates. Monitoring of officers action by higher authority was relatively hard and no
proof or documentation of minor laxities was available.
(4) Government offices were only source of information about various government welfare
schemes. Citizens were bound to come to district headquarters/ tehsils for government
related work and for getting solution to their grievances.
(5) Unnecessary secrecy in land record information had potential to generate Land scams.
Computerisation of land records under Bhulekh has helped a lot.
(6) Computer illiteracy was not good at officer and public level. Lokvani Enhancing computer
illiteracy programme was a vital success. District Administration had only 10 computer
systems including Linux based treasury system with Oracle 9i database. Collectorate was
not enabled with Computer Networking.
- 42 -
RESULTS ACHIEVED:
Lokvani project devised goals and targets as it evolved and were continuously revised. However,
some of the prime objectives of the project were achieved:
Service Delivery:
More than 1, 19,000 Public Grievance Complaints have been lodged since the inception of the
project through the Lokvani Centres spread across the district. The common man need not travel
to the government offices to lodge these complaints or to know about action taken on his
complaint. Now they can go to the nearest Lokvani Centre and file their complaints through the
Internet. The status of these Complaints is also available on the website
Reducing Response Time and Increasing Accountability:
The District Magistrate himself monitors all the complaints lodged through the web. He fixes strict
timelines for redressal of the complaint before being marked to the concerned authority. The
status of all complaints is available on the NET, which not only increases transparency but also
fixes the accountability.
Growth of Internet Service Providers:
One of the major achievements of the project is that the reach of Internet has been extended to the
remotest areas. The project which started with a couple of Lokvani centres has now grown to
more than 100 centres up to the nyaya panchayat level and requests for authorization cyber cafes
as Lokvani Centres are pouring-in. This has lead to increase in the private sector internet service
providers like Reliance and Tata Indicom into the remotest areas of the district.
Extension of benefits of ICT to farmers, Labourers & unemployed youth:
With the growth of ISPs the unemployed youth are getting benefitted, while the land records
computerization and its linkage with the Lokvani Project is a welcome boon to the farmers who
will have the option of viewing their Land Records Information at the Lokvani Centres. The
process is also underway to provide an authentic printed copy of land records to the farmers
through courier and post right at the doorstep. They will only need to go to the nearest Lokvani
Centres to make a Request.
- 43 -
Streamlining the functioning of Collectorate:
The hub of the Lokvani Project is National Informatics Centre (NIC) office located at the
collectorate. Other services like Arms Licensing, Issuance of Certificates, and Pension Details etc.
are added on the Lokvani, the backend computerization, streamlining of Processes and workflow
automation is being carried out. It has Created awareness in areas of e-administration, e-
education, e-health etc among district administration. It Reduced duplication of efforts, thereby
improving the efficiency and productivity of manpower at the collectorate. Skills development of
collectorate Employees
Information dissemination:
Information pertaining to different Government Schemes, government prescribed forms,
development works carried out in districts, lists of old age pensioners, lists of scholarship
beneficiaries, funds Allotted in various government schemes, Allotment of food grains to kotedars,
Allotments of funds to Gram Panchayats etc. are a part of the information provided to the people
through Lokvani Centres.
Reducing Cost:
The user need not travel from remote areas to the District Collectorate to lodge complaints and
follow-up. They can now save both time and money and go to the nearest Lokvani Centre to lodge
their complaint or access information they desire. The government also saves valuable time in
monitoring the Complaint, which can now be used in more productive work. As more than 80%
Population live in the villages and most of them are very poor. These poor villagers can get the
solution of their problems as well as all the necessary information by spending maximum Rs. 25 to
30 in place of traditional expenditure ranging between Rs.100 to 200.
Reducing Corruption:
The main concept of the Lokvani Project is to makes Government more transparent and
accountable to citizens. Since the complaints are now traceable, responsibilities fixed, status of
action taken on the website, it all helps in reducing the corruption to a large extent. Also, the
accountability is increased by the online proof of the laxity of the official concerned since he
cannot hide anything and has to bear the responsibility of whatever action he has taken.
- 44 -
Empowering ordinary citizen:
Previously, citizens were never officially informed about the result or status of their application.
They had to run from pillar to post to know that. Now the information is available at the doorstep
to the citizen. Extending the benefits of ICT to the common man is fulfilled but the journey does
not end here. It is the beginning as we strive to bring more services under the umbrella of Lokvani.
The project has seen a large number of women complainants who were reluctant earlier to travel
to the district headquarters. The women are also coming forward as kiosk owners and are
asserting their status in the society.
Promoting Public-Private Partnership:
The model is a classic example of grassroots level public-private partnership. The kiosk owners
and the district administration work in a unique synergy with each other. Thus the black box of
administration gets a bit open as the kiosk owners tend to intervene in the processes also. Thus,
the monopoly structure of administration is diluted a bit an this takes administration more near to
people.
Awards and Appreciations
The 1, 19,000 complaints in the Lokvani Server and their efficient disposal are the biggest
achievements which Lokvani can boast of. The public trust which still is there in the process of
Lokvani is another achievement of the project. The core team of Lokvani has felicitated across on
various occasions for the unique concept of Lokvani and contribution towards improvement of
governance. The public feedback and the media coverage generated by the project have been
massive. Eminent newspapers and Magazines have featured Lokvani project. Some of the awards
won by Lokvani included:
(1) Prime Minister Award for Public Administration in 2008.
(2) Finalist of the ‘Stockholm Challenge Award’ for World’s best ICT projects for social and
Economical development.
(3) ‘Manthan-AIF Award 2006’ For India’s best e-content practices.
(4) ‘Golden Icon Award’ (Cochin, 2006).
(5) Dataquest E-gov Champion Award.
(6) Microsoft award.
- 45 -
REPLICATION:
Lokvani project demonstrated that an e- Governance project could be successfully implemented in
adverse conditions such as low literacy rate, poor network and power conditions, negative
mindset towards change etc. After its success in Sitapur District, the government of Uttar Pradesh
decided to roll out the project in entire state, with specific guidelines, procedures and resources.
Some of the identified steps were:
(1) Creation of Lokvani Society & Lokvani Cell in NIC.
(2) Identification, training & agreement with Kiosks.
(3) Software installation and data entry of district specific data
(4) Publicity and awareness generation about Lokvani.
But sadly, the replication of the project failed miserably in the state, due to a resistance among the
bureaucracy to the project. There districts which performed well in replication were again due to
the personal dynamism of the officers rather then the institutionalised structure, due to a lack of
continuos monitoring by some central body. The department of IT was the nodal agency for
implementing the project, which is something out of place when it comes to everyday bureaucracy
in Uttar-Pradesh. The issues pertaining to the competition within bureaucracy led to the failure of
the replication. The senior bureaucrats who wanted to assert themselves went on to alter the
structure of Lokvani to preserve their individuality. For example the project was started by the
district administration of Hardoi by the name of ‘Janvani’, Aligarh named it as “Kaumi Awaz” and
numerous such incidents happened. The field level bureaucrats were not comfortable with the
idea of implementing the innovation in a nearby district thus giving away the credit to those who
designed the program rather than themselves. Also the issue of corruption was the biggest factor,
since the project increased the accountability of the very same people who were to implement it, it
lost its charm rather officials became inimical to the same, the fate similar to that of Right to
Information in India. Political machinery in Uttar-Pradesh is too busy with their electoral issues
rather than to pay heed to such projects. Thus, the replication failure of the project brought out
hidden issues in the way our administrative systems synergise with each other at the district level,
which needs to be addressed in a holistic perspective, by the senior administrative machinery. The
need is to institutionalise the processes and harmonise the relationships in the day to day
operations of the administrative machinery.
District wise Details of Complaints
(12/05/2008)
---DISTRICT
Total Pending
Disposed
1 AGRA 4 2 2
2 ALIGARH 6367 560 5807
3 ALLAHABAD 582 251 331
4 AMBEDKERNAGAR 0 0 0
5 AURAIYA 0 0 0
6 AZAMGARH 1 1 0
7 BADAUN 61 61 0
8 BAGPAT 92 62 30
9 BALLIA 29 21 8
10 BALRAMPUR 2096 810 1286
11 BANDA 383 263 120
12 BARABANKI 0 0 0
13 BAREILLY 2044 380 1664
14 BASTI 245 81 164
15 BEHRAICH 214 145 69
16 BIJNOR 502 214 288
17 BULANDSHAHAR 185 98 87
18 CHANDAULI 0 0 0
19 CHITRAKOOT 1 1 0
20 DEORIA 1026 634 392
21 ETAH 0 0 0
22 ETAWAH 0 0 0
23 FAIZABAD 20700 683 20017
24 FARRUKHABAD 183 50 133
25 FATEHPUR 6 6 0
26 FIROZABAD 10 4 6
27 GBNAGAR 2 1 1
28 GHAZIABAD 115 14 101
29 GHAZIPUR 752 501 251
30 GONDA 13966 4624 9342
31 GORAKHPUR 583 207 376
32 HAMIRPUR 147 52 95
33 HARDOI 82857 2134 80723
34 HATHRAS 16 16 0
35 JALAUN 818 227 591
36 JAUNPUR 33124 3801 29323
37 JHANSI 1412 1343 69
38 JPNAGAR 1 1 0
39 KANNAUJ 791 47 744
40 KANPURDEHAT 36 19 17
41 KANPURNAGAR 2 2 0
42 KAUSHAMBHI 0 0 0
43 KHERI 4235 818 3417
44 KUSHINAGAR 239 225 14
45 LALITPUR 687 115 572
46 LUCKNOW 1135 798 337
47 MAHARAJGANJ 1848 821 1027
48 MAHOBA 642 99 543
49 MAINPURI 24 23 1
50 MATHURA 6 2 4
51 MAU 13 12 1
52 MEERUT 4807 110 4697
53 MIRZAPUR 8 8 0
54 MORADABAD 5947 504 5443
55 MUZAFFARNAGAR 1014 256 758
56 PILIBHIT 1 1 0
57 PRATAPGARH 0 0 0
58 RAEBARELI 5465 1123 4342
59 RAMPUR 0 0 0
60 SAHARANPUR 30 6 24
61 SHAHJAHANPUR 1368 46 1322
62 SHRAVASTI 385 85 300
63 SIDHARTHNAGAR 262 181 81
64 SITAPUR 1,15,049 3,405 111,644
65 SKNAGAR 10 10 0
66 SONBHADRA 14 14 0
67 SRDNAGAR 0 0 0
68 SULTANPUR 0 0 0
69 UNNAO 3976 1252 2724
70 VARANASI 9 9 0
Total 316527 288650 289288
CONCLUSION:
Institutions, which are the mechanisms of actualizing both democracy and development, need
drastic reforms at all the levels of the governance. Good Governance cannot be achieved in
isolation, all the players have to unanimously strive towards a common goal in order to initiate
change. There is no dearth of serious concerns, debates and proposals about various reforms, from
parliament to judiciary, the executive and local governance, but implementation machinery of
ours performs not up to the potential and that is where our constructs get really blurred. If we
need some significant changes to be visible, we need to spend resources, and strengthen the
implementing machinery, creating feedback loops through ordinary citizens and be responsive to
their concerns. Governance systems should follow a cyclical mechanism rather than the top to
down enforcement which we have seen for ages.
In order to bring change aspirations need to circulate through all the channels and make their
presence felt, on the other hand the state should be responsive to the aspirations. The electronic
governance systems are a small tool in the process which will certainly improve this
communication grid. We need to invest our resources, energy on these tools also to achieve the
larger objective. The projects like Lokvani should be promoted to a large extent up so that those
who are alienated from the mainstream processes can at least assert their needs and aspirations.
It is necessary to have a dialogue in a democracy and effective channels of communication are a
must for the success of a democracy. Internet has evolved as a strong medium for the same, we
need to integrate it with our governance processes and public delivery mechanisms for an
effective administration.
- 48 -
REFERENCES:
Bedi K, Singh P.J: Government@net: New governance opportunities in India, Sage Publications,
New Delhi, 2002
Bhatnagar S: “Creating the Enabling Conditions for Targeting the Vulnerable with e-Government:
Findings and Observations from Case Studies”.
Bhatnagar &Jain, “ Administrative response to citizen grievances” in Bureaucracy, Politics and
Administrative Challenge, Pattnayak R. (Ed), 1994, Anmol, New Delhi
Bollier, D: “The rise of Netpolitik: How the internet is changing International politics and
diplomacy”, The Aspen Institute.
De, Rahul: “The Impact of Indian E-Government Initiatives: Issues of Poverty and vulnerability
Reduction and Conflict”, available at www.apdip.net/projects/e-government/capblg/casestudies/India-
De.pdf
Garai, A, Shadrach B: “Taking ICT to every Indian village: opportunities and challenges”, One world
South Asia, 2006, New Delhi.
Shukla A. and Srinivasan R.: “Lokvani- A case of public private Partnership in e governance” IIM
Lucknow case Series: 2005-03.
Singh A.P. : Lokvani an effort to empower the citizens, Information and technologies in developingCountries, Newsletter, Volume 15, No. 2 Volume 15, No. 2
: “Assessment of Impact of Information Technology on Rural Areas of India” MSSRF.
: Good governance through ICT, National Informatics Centre, 2002
: “Information technology policy”, Uttar Pradesh Government, 2004
: “Pro poor public delivery service with ICTs: Making local e- governance work”
Towards Achieving MDGs, APIDP e note11/2007
http://www.upgov.nic.in (Related Links)
http://nicsu.up.nic.in/ (Related Links)
http://sitapur.nic.in/ (Related Links)
http://updesco.up.nic.in/ (Related Links)